Pan- Commonwealth
Civil Society Network on HIV and AIDS In Africa
The Pan- Commonwealth Civil Society Network
on HIV and AIDS in Africa was set up in early 2005 by the
Commonwealth Foundation to bring together key Civil Society
Organisations providing HIV and AIDS services in all the Commonwealth
countries.
It aims to promote partnership building,
effective programming, knowledge sharing, resource mobilisation,
leadership and accountable governance in the fight against
HIV and AIDS. The African network, which is under the overall
network, will bring together key civil society organisations
in Africa.
This is under a mandate of the Commonwealth
Foundation an intergovernmental organisation founded by Commonwealth
governments in 1965 to realize commonwealth goals for development,
democracy and cultural understanding by strengthening the
work of Civil Society Organisations. The justification for the Network follows
from a grave reality that today, 60% of all people living
with HIV are from Commonwealth countries. Southern Africa
remains the epicentre of the global HIV epidemic. In 2006,
almost two thirds of all persons infected with HIV were living
in Sub-Saharan Africa – 24.7 million.
Civil Society Organisations therefore have a key role to play
in mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS. |
